UNC’s McNally reacts to Fulkerson sentencing

Theater professor Tom McNally says the University of Northern Colorado is ready to move on from the Vance Fulkerson scandal.

University of Northern Colorado theater professor Tom McNally offered a pained reaction to last week’s four-year prison sentence for colleague Vance Fulkerson on charges of sexual misconduct with students. McNally has worked with Fulkerson dating back to the now shuttered Loretto Heights College in Denver in the 1970s.

Here are comments:

“My only real feeling about it is that it really is a tragedy. I mean, it’s the definition of tragedy – the fall of somebody from a very, very high spot.

I just continue to grieve so much for the victims. And as far as Vance? I am angry and upset with him, but I also understand, having now gotten eight months of information, that his troublesome and unnatural actions were due, at least in part, to his abused past life, where coming out about his true sexual orientation was really punished with beatings and being taken off by his religion and trying to be converted. Now, that does not justify one damn thing that he did. This turns out to be a real lose-lose situation. Vance loses the educational world; the theater loses, and the victims are No. 1 on the top of the list of people who lose, of course.

I don’t know that the judge could have done differently. The therapists who worked with Vance concluded that he should not be incarcerated; that there should be another way; but nonetheless I think that Judge (Thomas) Quammen did what he legitimately thought should be done in this case.

The good news, for us, of course: This is finally concluded. This is finally over. This is finally done. And we’re ready to move on. We’re celebrating Catherine Pilafas and Jesse Datino being off-Broadway, and having kids in “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Wicked” and “West Side Story” and “The Addams Family” on Broadway, and a lot of students who are working in rep theater around the country, even at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and so forth. So we’re celebrating that and moving forward and just doing the best we can.

We are very, very excited about the applicants for the replacement of Vance’s position. I mean, wow, the applicants we have are just really stunning. So I’m looking forward. I’m trying to not look backward.

But I’m telling you, it was a terrible situation, a terrible, terrible situation. I understand that he had a whole lot of psychological baggage, but dammit, the s.o.b. shouldn’t have done what he did, period.

So anyway, I hope that the Fulkerson thing is now done, concluded, finished. God, I hope.

Tom, it's time to accept your part in this tragedy. Everyone who ever had a 2 minute conversation with Vance knew 2 things: he was sleazy and he was a pathological liar. To know this perv for over 30 years and pretend to be shocked by what he was doing is beyond believable. I don't know of anyone who knew he was videoing in the bathroom, (although there were rumors . . .) but to pretend to be shocked is as unbelievably fake as Vance's tears in the courtroom. Fess up, Tom. And while you're at it, get your boss (David Grapes) to fess up to his part as well. You both – as well as everyone else in the department looked the other way for 20 years while he ran roughshod over anyone with morals, and you did it in the name of money and prestige. BTW, where HAS Grapes been this past 8 months? How has he managed to dodge the spotlight so carefully when he craves it any other time??

theater fan

Tom, it's time to accept your part in this tragedy. Everyone who ever had a 2 minute conversation with Vance knew 2 things: he was sleazy and he was a pathological liar. To know this perv for over 30 years and pretend to be shocked by what he was doing is beyond believable. I don't know of anyone who knew he was videoing in the bathroom, (although there were rumors . . .) but to pretend to be shocked is as unbelievably fake as Vance's tears in the courtroom. Fess up, Tom. And while you're at it, get your boss (David Grapes) to fess up to his part as well. You both – as well as everyone else in the department looked the other way for 20 years while he ran roughshod over anyone with morals, and you did it in the name of money and prestige. BTW, where HAS Grapes been this past 8 months? How has he managed to dodge the spotlight so carefully when he craves it any other time??

Mr. Crispy

Anyone who knows Tom McNally would also know that being up front and honest about any situation having to do with the UNC theater department, faculty, students or program would be impossible. This is the same in hundreds of departments in diverse fields all over the world; if the leaders of that department value results over integrity, all other considerations fall by the wayside so long as the results keep pouring in. This is a truism across the land, from teachers like Vance Fulkerson to sports coaches like Bobby Knight. You keep pushing out high-quality champions, you can get away with murder.

Former Student

What changes are being made at the department and University level to ensure to the taxpayers of Colorado that you don't permit another sex offender to use said department/University as a playground for another 20 years just because he brings your program and yourself prominence?

former student 2

I agree with crispy. Honesty was definitely not a cherished value at UNC's theatre dept. when I was there in the 90s. Tom was very rarely honest with any student, and his own sleaziness, while not as revolting as Vance's, was par for the course for an overall strange and dishonest dept. faculty. Of course there were some great people teaching there, personally and professionally, but Tom and Vance were never good people in my experiences with them.